DC Youth and Young Adult Update 04-11-2025

 

 

News at NYEC:

• Join the National Youth Employment Coalition’s 2025 Annual Forum- Empowering Youth, Transforming Communities, in Minneapolis, MN, from May 12-14, 2025! This event will gather practitioners, youth advocates, and community leaders to explore key topics like youth leadership, holistic supports, living wage employment, and policy & advocacy. 

• Fill out a 6-month Federal Advocacy Calendar! Interested in being more engaged in federal advocacy? The hyperlinked title will direct you to a JotForm that lists concrete steps that you can take in the first 6 months of the year to build a relationship with your Members of Congress! NYEC will make it easy to complete each goal of every month by sharing support, reminders, and more! 

Legislative Branch:

• 119th Congressional Committee Updates:

• Senate HELP Committee: Sanders, Scott, 175 Colleagues Introduce Bill to Raise Minimum Wage to $17 by 2030: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, alongside 33 colleagues in the Senate, 142 in the House of Representatives, and with the support of 85 organizations from across the country, introduced the Raise the Wage Act. Sanders forced a vote on an amendment to the Budget Resolution in the Senate calling for raising the federal minimum wage to at least $17 an hour over the next 5 years. The full bill text can be found here. 

• Senate Appropriations Committee: Senators Collins and Murray Announce the Start of the FY26 Appropriations Process, Releasing Guidance on Programmatic, Language, and Congressionally Directed Spending Requests: U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-MA) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively, released guidance for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 programmatic, language, and Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests. The Committee is moving forward with the FY 2026 appropriations process, and will begin hearings later this month. General guidance for Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations requests is available here.

• House Passes FY25 Concurrent Budget Resolution: The U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 216-214 the FY25 Concurrent Budget Resolution as amended by the U.S. Senate. This is the first time a Republican-controlled Congress has passed a budget resolution since 2017. By passing this resolution, the House is taking another step to advancing a reconciliation bill that will include large budget changes to fund immigration and tax cut priorities. 

• Murray, Sanders, DeLauro, Scott, Baldwin Demand McMahon Reverse Abrupt Policy Change Halting Funding for Schools Nationwide: Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, led a letterto Secretary Linda McMahon demanding a reversal of a new policy the Department of Education announced recently that suddenly upended departmental policy and imposed new red tape on states.

• Rep. Watson Coleman Reintroduces Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act:  Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) announced the reintroduction of the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act; legislation that addresses the mental health crisis facing our youth through funding to support research, improves the pipeline of culturally competent providers, builds outreach programs that reduce stigma, and develops a training program for providers to effectively manage disparities. The Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act would authorize $995 million in grants and other funding to support research and improve the quality and accessibility of mental healthcare. A companion bill has been introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI). The full bill text can be found here.

Executive Branch:

• Secretary Chavez-DeRemer Announces ‘America at Work’ Listening Tour: U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is embarking on a nationwide listening tour to hear more about the challenges and opportunities facing everyday Americans at work.Throughout the tour, the Secretary will meet with various workers, union members, employers, and community leaders.

Federal Funding Opportunities with upcoming deadlines:

No new federal funding opportunities

Previously Shared

• DOJ Grant: NIJ FY25 Graduate Research Fellowship: This funding opportunity seeks to support doctoral students whose dissertation research is relevant to preventing and controlling crime, advancing knowledge of victimization and effective victim services, or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal or juvenile justice in the United States. Applications are due April 15, 2025.

• HUD Grant: Youth Homeless Demonstration Program for Fiscal Year 2024: HUD will select between 12 and 25 communities to participate in the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) to develop and execute a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Applications due April 17, 2025. 

• USDA Grant: Community Connect Grant Program: The Community Connect Grant Program provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that will provide service at or above the Broadband Grant Speed (100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up) to all premises in rural, economically-challenged communities where broadband service (10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up) does not exist. Applications due April 21, 2025.

• ED Grant: Indian Education Discretionary Grants Program: Demonstration Grants for Indian Children and Youth Program: The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to community-driven projects that develop and share innovative services and programs designed to improve the educational opportunities and achievement of Indian students by addressing community-level challenges. Applications are due April 28, 2025.